


Six Merry Men

by Jaakkola



Series: Jaakko Listened to a Song and Wrote About It (and Now That's Your Problem) [6]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Heavy Angst, Horror, Injury, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, No Major Character Death, Some Plot, Swearing, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:47:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26911645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaakkola/pseuds/Jaakkola
Summary: One of us pants, one of us weepsLine up the shots and four days 'til sleepSoaking in blood, pale as a sheetIt's good to be aliveOne of Shaw's agents went missing, and Shaw and Flynn end up over their heads in searching for them.
Relationships: Flynn Fairwind/Mathias Shaw
Series: Jaakko Listened to a Song and Wrote About It (and Now That's Your Problem) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1967953
Comments: 11
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't do those monthly challenge things but I needed to get this out of my system otherwise it was going to affect my other writing.
> 
> Song [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnifZmTDJNg) I'm not sure if the song's meaning is in fact how I interpreted it, but I think my take is valid enough to write a song fic about it and that's all that matters.

The two moons hung high in the sky, one swollen full while the other was a mere sliver. The stench of death hung in the air around an old whiskey shed nestled between gnarled trees in the Crimson Forest. Shaw currently had a pick and tension wrench lodged into the lock, working to undo the mechanism that barred him from entry. "Shaw," Fairwind said from behind him, "I don't think this is the greatest idea."

"Good thing I didn't ask for your opinion," Shaw murmured, half distracted.

"I think we both can guess that something died in there, and whatever killed it might still be in there, I should say."

Shaw had asked Fairwind to tag along with him to Drustvar, an extra set of eyes and ears, local ones too, to help him search for any clues about an agent that went MIA a week ago. Their search was yet fruitless, only leading them to a village that was adamant about not helping them due to Shaw being a mainlander. 

Shaw said nothing until the lock relented, twisting undone for him. "Only one way to find out." He slid his lockpicks back into his pocket and took the lantern he put aside in hand before standing. Pulling a dagger from its sheathe, he asked, "You coming?"

Fairwind looked pale, but nodded. He had a hand tucked into his coat, most likely holding onto where his flintlock was hidden. Shaw gave him what should have hopefully passed for a reassuring look, and pushed the door open.

With the illumination of his lantern lighting the room, Shaw breathed, "holy Light loving shit."

The floors and walls were soaked with blood, stained shades of red and rust. Intestines were hung about the room, nailed to the walls and dripping with gore onto the barrels against the wall. But that was little compared to the flayed human male that laid against the floor, flayed and missing chunks of flesh from any body part with a fair amount of fat. His clothes were torn from his body, his pants pushed down to his ankles at his thighs dripped from the several oddly shaped wounds. Bruises littered his body, around his wrists and shoulders and all along his chest. It was as if he was mauled to death in the shed.

Shaw was fixed on his face, an expression of pure terror frozen across his face with glassy eyes, unable to pull his gaze away until the sounds of Fairwind retching behind him brought him back to the present. Shaw sheathed his dagger, giving Fairwind a few comforting pats before stepping to the body. The whole room reeked of decay, and flies buzzed incessantly. The body couldn't have been dead for more than a few days.

"Tidemother fuck me dry," Fairwind rasped once he was finished, "what the _fuck."_

Shaw knelt down beside the body, holding the lantern to the face. Pale as a sheet and stained with dried blood. "It's my agent," he said, his own voice quiet.

"Did Horde do this?"

Shaw shook his head. "They can be heinous but... this is..." he trailed off, examining the wounds. Most were simple slashes, from a hunting knife it looked like, but many looked as if flesh was torn directly from the body. "This is something else entirely."

There was bruising around the gashes. Shaw leaned closer, fighting down his own nausea. They were teeth marks, he realized. Not an animals, and not orc or goblin. In fact, it didn't match any of the Horde aligned races; those were undeniably human molars and canines. "Locals did this."

"What? _This?"_

"Someone tore the flesh right from him with their teeth." It was with that Shaw realized that he must have been _alive_ for most of the horror, if not all of it. His mouth salivated with the promise of incoming bile, and he squeezed his eyes shut and put his free hand to his mouth. Shaw was used to seeing many gruesome and grotesque things, and had long thought his stomach strong, but this was downright horrific.

"Why?" Fairwind asked. He still stood by the door, ready to bolt at a moments notice, as if he expected the body to get up again.

"I don't know," Shaw said. "Is cannibalism big in Drustvar?"

"I sure hope it isn't, because if it is, we may have just angered everyone in that village back there."

Shaw drew his mouth thin. Fairwind was right. He thought back to the village, mostly men, all with beady eyes and stained teeth and steadfastly dodging all of Shaw's questions while remarking upon him with distaste. They knew Shaw was looking for his agent, tortured to death and half-eaten.

He felt dread grow in the pit of his stomach. Light help them both. "Close the door and lock it," Shaw said quickly.

"Wha—"

"Now!" Shaw snapped. Fairwind buckled and swung the door close behind him, darkening the room to just the lantern Shaw held. The lock clicked into place, and in the dim light he could see the Kul Tiran turn back to him, unabashed and intense fear across his face. Shaw rose to his feet and looked around the gore splattered shed. "Come here," Shaw said, and Fairwind gingerly crossed the room to him, resolutely keeping his gaze up.

There was a paticularly large cask, perhaps ten feet in diameter, resting on its side and slightly away from the wall. Shaw made his way towards it, Fairwind on his heels, and they both squeeze in between the cask in the wall. As there are sounds of the door handle being twisted, the lock fighting against whoever was on the other side, Shaw put the lantern out and hooked it onto his belt. His heart hammered hard in his chest as the darkness fully encompassed them.

The door swung open, groaning in complaint before bouncing off the wall it was hinged to. Footsteps in, and there was light behind them both. "You said that they were looking for him?" One asked.

"I swear by it, Levi."

There's steps inside. From where Fairwind was pressed against Shaw, he could feel the larger man trembling.

"Think they're in here?" a third one asked.

"Maybe," said Levi.

"Maybe they went running."

"The door was locked," a fourth piped up.

"Would have seen them anyway."

The odds became increasingly worse. Shaw had one hand on his dagger hilt, while his other hand found Fairwind's hand. He entwined his fingers with Fairwind and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Light help them both.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was asked for more so here you go.

Realistically, the only way they could have made it out of there was to sprint to the door and to hide in the forest's overgrowth.

Needless to say, they didn't make it that far once they were found. Shaw would like to claim they put up a good fight, but, well, they were outnumbered.

Shaw was disarmed and spun around, pulled against a Kul Tiran's chest with a knife to his throat in an instant. His eyes fell on Fairwind first, armed with his pistol and a cutlass, looking terrified back at Shaw, and then to who had the knife against Shaw's throat. Everyone kept their distance from Fairwind, his flintlock more than enough to impose threat. "I'd drop those if I were you," the man behind Shaw rumbled.

 _Don't,_ Shaw mentally pleaded. The alternative and increasingly likely outcome of this situation was so horrific, that the chance that Shaw died within the next minute was favorable. _Shoot him, please, shoot. Do it._

Fairwind, however, was not a telepath, or if he was, he listened as well as he did when you spoke verbally to him. There was a fire in his eyes as the man behind Shaw spoke, but there was a certain inevitability to what was happening. "I'll put this knife through the mainlander's neck," the man reiterated, as if anyone in the room was confused about the situation.

Shaw realized, on some level, that he was panicking. It had been a long time since he was in a panicked state. _Solutions, Mathias, work on solutions._ He reached a hand into the folds of his armor, inching his way into the hidden pocket and pulling free the small crystal inside. He worked it into his palm, holding on tight to it.

Fairwind relented and tossed his cutlass down, the hardware clattering against permanently stained wood flooring. "There you go," the man said, a smile in his voice. "Now the gun."

He seemed less inclined to give that up, and his gaze flicked back down to Shaw, worry and uncertainty etched into his features. Shaw made no indication for Fairwind to do one thing or the other, he just worked the crystal in his hands. Fairwind, slowly, bent down and put his flintlock on the ground before rising to his full height again and kicking it away, towards the door. "Other cutlass," the man ordered, and Fairwind complied.

"See how easy things can be when you comply?" he continued, speaking to Fairwind and not Shaw. "Remember that, it won't be an easy lesson to learn again. Dan, grab him." The tallest of the men, Dan, crossed over to Fairwind, taking both his wrists and pulling them behind his back. The man behind Shaw barked out more orders, "you two, get that door boarded up and move this thing."

From the corner of his eye, Shaw saw the two other men moving. He didn't look over; the blade hadn't moved from his throat yet. The man pressed against Shaw dipped his head, whispering in Shaw's ear, "you've gotten in a bit over your head, haven't you?"

Shaw didn't respond, fixing his gaze no where in particular after a brief glance for a non-bloodied corner failed him. The man holding onto him jostled him a bit, and Shaw just grit his teeth.

"Madison," someone said, Levi maybe. Shaw wasn't paying too much attention to voices at the time. "Where do you want this?"

"Just throw it to the side," the man behind Shaw replied.

Shaw felt the cold metal of the dagger press against his throat, the flat of the blade rather than the edge, but that fact did little to slow his heart pounding hard in his chest. The tip of the blade dragged along the underside of his chin. "You're still with us, right?" Madison asked, a condescendingly gentle coo.

Shaw shifted against Madison's grip on him and looked away, hoping that was answer enough. His eyes found Fairwind's by accident, who glanced to Shaw before looking behind him. The sound of something heavy hit the ground behind Shaw, an unmistakable sound. He squeezed his eyes shut. _His agent._ If this didn't work, Shaw will soon be in a similar state; he felt the crystal against his gloved palm. _Just need the right moment._ Shaw opened his eyes and looked back to Fairwind, intending to convey that he had some semblance of control over the situation and that Fairwind shouldn't worry.

The toe of a boot jammed into the back of Shaw's knee before he could do that, however, and Shaw sunk like a failed gnomish invention, narrowly missing the knife with his neck. With his hands still unrestrained, he let go of the crystal to catch himself.

It shattered into a million pieces, completely unnoticed.

Shaw's palms and knees complained with the sudden hit, glancing up at Fairwind. His attention was diverted before he could decipher the expression across Fairwind's face, as there was a hand on his shoulder, yanking on the pauldron and jerking Shaw with it. Blunt fingers worm their way underneath the pauldron, and Shaw grit his teeth as they find the clasp securing the pauldron to his chestpiece. Another hand is on him, doing the same to his other pauldron. They're both pulled off, and one shoulder is grabbed and he's spun ninety degrees before being slammed against the ground.

He was held down by the shoulders by the two remaining men, keeping Shaw trapped against the ground. Madison loomed above dangerously, flourishing the knife with all the skill and dexterity of a seven year old. Shaw was more concerned he'd drop it onto him. "Aw, look at you," Madison said. "Looking like you're gonna get out of this alive."

Shaw was dimly aware of the puddle of cold blood he was in, coating his neck and hair and soaking into his backside. He tried not to focus too much on it, but any other option to hold his attention was equally bad. Madison looked over to Fairwind, grinning wide with his stained teeth. "Quite a sight like this, huh?" he asked. "It only gets better too."

Fairwind's only response was a look of miserable disgust, his face unusually pale. Madison crossed over to him, and while Shaw didn't catch the words Madison mumbled to him, there was the notable addition of contempt to the mix.

And then, in either a poor display of nerves or a fantastic display of insubordination, Fairwind threw up again, all over Madison's boots. It was disgusting yet cathartic to see, but then again, everything could have disgusting ascribed to it and it be accurate right now.

Madison swore under his breath, moving back too slowly to avoid it. Swearing again, he took the knife and slashed at Fairwind's face, catching his cheek and tearing a shallow gash through it. Shaw tried to pull himself to his feet, but the two holding his shoulders kept him firmly against the ground. All he can do is watch as Madison grabbed Fairwind's throat and pulled his head up to make Fairwind meet his gaze.

More quiet words are shared, just for them, and anger flared in Fairwind's eyes with whatever is said. Eventually, Madison let go of his throat, reaching a thumb to brush at the wound, blood beginning to bead and trail down his cheek. There was a smear across Fairwind's cheek, and Madison turned back to Shaw as he licked his thumb clean. Shaw's stomach turned at the display with something more than disgust.

"Don't look at me like that," Madison crowed as he bent down next to Shaw, baring his stained teeth in a proud grin. "I promise that we will have a grand old time together."

A hand yanked at the lacing of Shaw's armor, and there was a steady thrumming in his ears. He wondered if there was use in holding out, or if it would be better to force them into a position to kill Shaw. He glanced to Fairwind, who was staring at the display before him with unfocused eyes. _I got him into this mess, and I'm the only thing between him and these people._

Madison gave a good effort into trying to divest Shaw of his corset, clearly not expecting it to take as long as it does, before just taking his knife and sawing through the cording in frustration. Shaw closed his eyes, trying not to focus on how hard his heart is beating, on how he was becoming more and more exposed, on what was likely going to be done to him in a minute, or on how awful the room smelled in general. An insurmountable task, but he tried anyway.

With two more yanks, the leather corset was pulled apart and out from under Shaw. He clenched his fists and jaw in response. There was truly nothing he could do other than _let this happen_ and he felt an indescribable helplessness that was only exacerbated as he was straddled across the waist. Calloused fingertips traced across his throat, making panic well up inside him as they find his jugular.

"Well, aren't you excited," Madison murmured. Shaw fought for some sense of control over his fear before the tip of the knife was pressed into Shaw's throat, and then all he could do was clench his teeth and pray this ended quickly, one way or another.

The cut was incredibly shallow, just enough to get blood to the surface, but that did little to stop the hammering in Shaw's throat. Then, nothing other than a few moments of feared anticipation.

The broad stripe of tongue across the wound was a surprise, one that pulled a sharp inhale from Shaw as he tensed up even further. "Stop," Fairwind choked out from across the room. There was a panicked desperation in his voice, and Shaw didn't dare open his eyes to look at him.

"You want me to stop?" Madison asked. "That hardly seems fair, considering you two—" The knife was thrusted into Shaw's abdomen, and Shaw couldn't help the pained gasp that escapes him.

 _"Stop,"_ Fairwind repeated, voice breaking with emotion.

"—considering you two have gotten yourselves into our personal business." The knife was pulled from Shaw and Madison rose to his feet. He opened his eyes, panic rising once again. _Don't talk,_ Shaw silently pleaded to the other man. _Let me take this, please._

"You're lightdamn cowards," Shaw said, hoping it would get the attention back to him.

Madison paid him no mind as he brandished the knife towards Fairwind. "Clean it," he ordered.

Fairwind raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "What?"

The knife was dangerously close to Fairwind's mouth. "Clean. It."

Fairwind looked ready to throw up again. Shaw might throw up with him. He looked away, trying to fight down his nausea. The pain in his abdomen was a steady onslaught, and he reached a hand down to try and stem the bleeding, the two holding him down making no effort to stop him. Shaw was by no means a religious man, but he would be lying if he said his silent prayers weren't genuine. _Light spare us, please._

But, as it were, prayers alone did little to fix a situation; Shaw was lying on the floor still, bleeding from an open wound, while Fairwind was being forced to lick the knife clean. "See, that wasn't so hard," Madison said.

Fairwind was silent. Shaw could feel his gaze on him, and he didn't dare look over. The sounds of heavy boots crossing the small shed again filled Shaw with dread. "Don't you look delicious," Madison said.

"Fuck you," Shaw snapped.

"Now now, there's no reason to be rude."

"You stabbed me!"

Shaw was straddled once again, and he glared at Madison. "Gonna do a lot more to you then just that." The blunt edge of the knife dragged across his throat. "You should be happy that it's me doing it. Could have Levi doing it. Man's mad as a mare."

The knife dragged into Shaw's right arm, slicing it open. Another pained sound escaped him. "Stop, please," Fairwind tried again, desperate and afraid. _"Stop."_

Madison's grin was feral. "I'm beginning to think you want to be carved up instead," he said.

Fairwind didn't respond before Madison wedged the knife further into Shaw's arm. Pain shot through so many nerves in Shaw's body, and his breathing was labored in an effort to not cry out, considering how terrified Fairwind seemed to be.

Someone tried the door to the shed, and Shaw's heart leapt in his chest. A quick hand clamped over his mouth, coming from one of the two holding him down. Fairwind, however, is quicker on the draw, and made a noise of exclamation before Dan managed to cover his mouth. It was at the cost of keeping a strong grip on Fairwind, however, and Fairwind shifted his weight and threw it back against Dan, slamming him against the wall.

Madison pressed the knife against Shaw's throat as Levi got up. Shaw made a noise, trying to warn Fairwind, but it was muffled and drowned out by the scuffle. Levi had a considerable bulk to him, and he tore Fairwind from Dan and threw him to the ground. Fairwind let out a pained grunt as he hit the ground, and Shaw could do nothing but watch as Levi repeatedly drove his foot in Fairwind's side until he curled in on himself, trembling.

With a blast of frozen wind that chilled to the bone, the barred door splintered apart. There was a deathly pregnant pause as the situation was critically examined under the icy gaze of Lady Jaina Proudmoore, and then the room is filled with a flurry of ice and snow. Shaw turned, shielding his face with an arm out of instinct. By the time he looked up, the four cannibals were frozen solid.

"Took your sweet time, didn't you?" Shaw asked, pushing the ice sculpture that was now Madison off of him. He tilted over and hit the ground with a hearty _thunk._

"It took some time to pinpoint exactly where the crystal broke." Jaina said, a bit absentminded as she took in the room. "The process will have to be refined."

It was Steelspark's idea to come up with an alarm system for out in the field. Early tests of mechanical means proved faulty, and Jaina suggested more magical means. Enchanted mana crystals. Durable, yet still easy to break to release its enchantment.

Shaw sat up with a wince. He counted his blessings: he's still alive, he's mostly okay, no appendages were lost, and he wasn't eaten. The bar was low, and yet, there was still an immense relief in the fact that they crossed over it.

Fairwind, rather suddenly, tackled Shaw into a hug. Shaw drew a sharp breath as pain shot through him, but he didn't draw away from Fairwind. He clutched Shaw like he was the only stable ground around. Shaw wrapped his arms around Fairwind similarly as he buried his face in the crook of Shaw's neck, still shaking. "I'm sorry," he mumbled into Shaw's skin.

"You hardly have anything to apologize for," Shaw returned. "I asked you to come with me, anyway."

"You were almost—"

"And I'm fine now," Shaw cut off, assuring the man. He knew Jaina's watching them, but the breach of professional protocol is far from Shaw's mind. "I'm fine," he assured. "We both are."

Shaw expected a joke, maybe a comment about some bruised ribs, but what he got was a quiet sob into his shoulder.


End file.
